BURSTOttawa– Senators fans have been begging for the team to find an ideal partner for Thomas Chabot ever since Dylan DeMelo was traded to the Winnipeg Jets in 2020. With DeMelo by his side, Chabot had burst onto the scene with 55 points in 2018-19.
The team searched for solutions.
Nikita Zaitsev? Nope.
Jakob Chychrun? Nah.
Nick Jensen? Emphatically yes.
In Ottawa’s 3-0 win over Seattle, Jensen displayed all the subtle attributes he brings that lead to the Senators winning hockey games.
When Jensen was acquired from Washington this summer for Chychrun, there was a consensus belief that the Senators gave away a great player for pennies on the dollar. Jensen, 33, had a career-high of 29 points compared with the super-talented 26-year-old Chychrun, who was a former 20-goal scorer as a defenceman.
But hockey isn’t all about talent. It’s about fit. Sometimes, a trade can be win-win.
Chychrun has been scoring at an absurd rate in Washington, while Jensen has brought stability playing alongside Chabot.
“I honestly, I feel like we found chemistry pretty early,” Jensen told Sportsnet.ca in November. “I think we have very similar mentalities. He wants to skate, he wants to compete, he wants the puck, he wants to work. I think those are the same ingredients that are in my game as well.”
“So anytime I have the puck, he’s always working to find a spot where he can get the puck. And anytime he’s got the puck with the guy on his back, I’m working to get to a spot to help him.”
Jensen has great defensive awareness to cover up Chabot’s defensive warts. He’s a very good puck mover and can chip in some offence when needed, with 13 points in 31 games.
First shift of the game against the Kraken Tuesday night, Chabot intercepted the puck in the neutral zone to rush up the ice, knowing Jensen had his back; when the Kraken eventually rushed back in transition, Jensen quickly snuffed out their attack. It’s become read and react for the duo.
The pair has the Senators’ best shot share at 55.17 percent and best-expected goal share at 55.77 percent of any pairing at five-on-five in Ottawa this season. When the duo has been together, the Senators have outscored opponents 28 to 18 at five-on-five.
In acquiring Jensen for Chychrun, Ottawa’s general manager Steve Staios was looking for a steady journeyman defenceman who fit with Chabot.
“Nick (has done) everything that we were hoping (he’d) bring to (Ottawa),” said Staios. “These are hard deals to make, and you project what you think you’re going to see happen.”
“He’s a true pro. He adds to the professionalism of our group, certainly the competitive level, as you see on every shift that he’s out there. And I think Chabot has benefited from that as well.”
Jensen and Chabot have been together since the beginning of training camp for all but a couple games in November when Artem Zub was out with a broken foot.
They were soon put back together because each struggled without the other.
“I think we just get a good read off each other. I mean, we’re both capable of skating with it. We’re both capable of making plays,” said Chabot about the connectedness between him and Jensen.
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In Chabot’s career, he has always been a minus player, never once posting a positive plus-minus in any of his first seven seasons in the NHL. That’s changed: he’s plus-12 on the season, while Jensen is a plus-15. Meanwhile, Chabot is posting career bests and leads the team in shot share (57.58 per cent) and expected goal share (59.04 percent), according to Natural Stat Trick (minimum. 100 minutes). On Tuesday, when the duo was paired together, the Senators outshot Seattle 26 to 15.
Coincidence?
Just ask the coach and he will give you an answer.
“He’s been a pleasant surprise,” Travis Green said earlier this season about Jensen’s play with Chabot.
Defensively, Jensen has been excellent, ranking 186 of 531 in expected goals allowed per 60 minutes at 2.36.
In the second period against Seattle, demonstrating his defensive prowess, Jensen niftily took the puck from Brandon Montour in his own zone, spun around with oncoming Kraken pressure to quickly find Zack Ostapchuk, which started a transition chance finished off by a Noah Gregor goal to make it 2-0.
Subtle details.
The duo has led and been part of a Senators team that has allowed zero goals through two periods 10 times this season, including on Tuesday, and it’s happened in six of the last seven games.
The pair have looked like they’ve lived together on the blue line for years despite only playing 31 games together.
However, off the ice the adjustment to Ottawa was more difficult for Jensen. In September, he and his wife, Jenner, welcomed a baby boy, Otto, to make the Jensen family a party of five, along with their two other boys, Lorenzo and Leon. Because of the summer trade, Jensen’s wife and kids were back home in Minnesota until recently.
“It’s been tough, not having my family around and them not being out here full time,” Jensen said in November.
Jensen FaceTimes his wife and kids every day. The plan is for them to get settled in Ottawa sometime soon. They were in town earlier last week and Brady Tkachuk lifted Lorenzo and Leon on his shoulders to watch their dad talk to the media during a post-game media scrum.
A wholesome moment.
Ottawa is slowly becoming home for Jensen, while Ottawa has finally found their stay-at-home defenceman to tag alongside Chabot.
Don’t get it twisted. Jensen can chip in offensively, too, but it’s not his focus.
“I’m not really worried about whether or not I get points,” said Jensen. “I do believe you play the game the right way with confidence and your work ethic, and you bring that every night, points will come. If you overthink it, you start focusing only on points, and it’s not going to be a good result. That’s kind of my mentality at it.”
Last week against Carolina, Jensen scored the all-important second goal late when he jumped into the play in the third period to cement the Senators win; and then against Pittsburgh, Jensen and Chabot pinched multiple times, leading to a good cycle play finished off by Chabot scoring off a Claude Giroux wrap-around pass. Jensen’s offensive instincts have helped him play off Chabot and put him on pace for a career-high in points.
In the past, the Senators would bring in big names such as Alex DeBrincat, Jakob Chychrun, and Vladimir Tarasenko, all immensely talented but who didn’t fill a need on a team already brimming with offensive firepower.
Jensen epitomizes what has gone right this season in Ottawa. Consistently playing strong two-way hockey, leadership, competitiveness and addressing a gap in the team.
Problem: the Senators needed a top-four right-shot defenceman for Thomas Chabot.
Solution= Nick Jensen
